All talk, no action?

Scarcely a week goes by without someone, somewhere talking about the importance of tackling racism in prisons, and the wider justice system.

Whether it is the politician in parliament, the senior criminal justice leader, the academic researcher at a conference, the advocate and campaigner, there is broad agreement that race is a key factor in criminalisation and imprisonment, and that racism remains a stain that must be confronted.

And yet it persists.

• Why is race and racism persistently marginalised in prison research?
• Why does so little appear to have changed, twenty-five years after the murder of Zahid Mubarek by his racist cellmate?
• Why is the subjugation and oppression that Black women experience in society reproduced in their experience of imprisonment?

Why do good people, trying to push for meaningful change, come up against the same barriers again and again?

In this special event, Dr Jason Warr, Khatuna Tsintsadze, and Dr Angela Charles will discuss these and other questions.

What it would mean for race and racism to be taken seriously by the prison system, politicians, researchers and wider society? How would we recognise meaningful change if it were to be achieved?

About the event

This event is being held both in-person and online. On registration you will be assigned an online place, and will receive instructions on how to request in-person attendance.

Following the event, food and drinks will be available for those attending in-person.

About the speakers

• Dr Jason Warr is a criminologist, a lifer, and associate professor of criminology at the University of Nottingham, with over 30 years’ experience of the criminal justice system.
• Khatuna Tsintsadze is co-director of the Zahid Mubarek Trust, with a background in international human rights work and legal reform.
• Dr Angela Charles is senior lecturer in criminology at Northampton University, specialising in prison, race and gender.